Lakewood Church shooting | |
---|---|
Location |
Lakewood Church Houston, Texas, U.S. |
Date | February 11, 2024 c. 1:53 p.m. ( CST; UTC−06:00) |
Attack type | Shooting |
Weapon | AR-15–style rifle [1] |
Deaths | 1 (the perpetrator) |
Injured | 2 |
Perpetrator | Genesse Ivonne Moreno [2] |
On February 11, 2024, a shooting occurred at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, perpetrated by 36-year-old Genesse Moreno.
Witnesses at Lakewood Church stated that they heard multiple shots fired around 2:00 pm CST, the start time of the Spanish-language services. [3] [4]
The shooter, Genesse Moreno, claimed to have a bomb in her backpack, but no bomb was subsequently found. [5] [6] She also sprayed "some type of substance on the ground". [7] She shot a 47-year-old man in the leg, wounding him. [8] [5] [9]
Moreno said "Stay calm, all I need is help", [10] then proceeded to fire more rounds.
Two off-duty officers, serving as security at the church, killed Moreno after she pointed an AR-15 at them. Moreno's seven-year-old son was shot in the exchange of gunfire. [6] The child was taken to the Texas Children's Hospital in critical condition. [5] Moreno was shot and killed four minutes after entering the church. [10]
Reports of a second shooter caused some alarm among Houston residents, leading police to evacuate businesses in the commercial district. Police confirmed that there was no second shooter. [11]
The wounded 47-year-old man was released from the hospital by February 12. [6] The seven-year-old had a portion of the frontal lobe of his brain surgically removed, [12] [13] and had his breathing tube removed after 13 days. [14] His grandmother Rabbi Walli Carranza urged people to "demand that no one’s second amendment rights overtake an innocent child’s inherent right to life". [14]
Camera footage from body cameras and surveillance cameras was released by the police. [10]
Police confirmed the following day that they identified the shooter as 36-year-old Genesse Ivonne Moreno (August 21, 1987 [15] – February 11, 2024). [16] Moreno was raised in Conroe, Texas, and had both a criminal record and documented mental health issues. [6] [17] Carranza, her ex-mother-in-law, said that she had schizophrenia that caused her to become violent, [18] and claimed that "What was needed for years was a collaborative mental health and law enforcement response". [10] She legally obtained her weapon in December 2023; Carranza criticized the lack of a red flag law. [18]
Carranza unsuccessfully petitioned for conservatorship of Moreno's son, the injured child, in 2022. [19]
As of February 19, 2024 [update], no motive is known. [6] Police confirmed that Moreno's AR-15–style rifle had a "Palestine" sticker on it and claimed that antisemitic writings had been discovered. [20] [21] According to the Anti-Defamation League, Moreno had made multiple comments propagating anti-semitic conspiracy theories, praising Osama bin Laden, and promoting terrorist organizations. [22]
Moreno previously used the alias Jeffery Escalante; although she at no point was identified as anything other than a cisgender female, her use of this alias caused far-right commentators, including Libs of TikTok and Fox News, [23] to spread misinformation claiming that the shooter was a transgender woman. [24] [25] [26] Fox News later edited its article to remove the claim. [23] Republican politicians, including Ted Cruz, [27] Donald Trump Jr., [27] Marjorie Taylor Greene, [23] and Josh Hawley [23] promoted the claim. This continued an ongoing trend of conservative commentators claiming that the LGBT community is to blame for increasing gun violence in America. [27] However, this claim contradicts statistics that trans people are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violence. [23] [24]
Lakewood Church asked people to "pray for Lakewood and our community". [8] Joel Osteen, its pastor, said: "Of course, we're devastated. We don't understand why these things happen. We're going to pray for the 5-year-old little boy, the lady who is deceased and the other gentleman. We're going to stay strong and continue to move forward." [5]
Lakewood Church shooting | |
---|---|
Location |
Lakewood Church Houston, Texas, U.S. |
Date | February 11, 2024 c. 1:53 p.m. ( CST; UTC−06:00) |
Attack type | Shooting |
Weapon | AR-15–style rifle [1] |
Deaths | 1 (the perpetrator) |
Injured | 2 |
Perpetrator | Genesse Ivonne Moreno [2] |
On February 11, 2024, a shooting occurred at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, perpetrated by 36-year-old Genesse Moreno.
Witnesses at Lakewood Church stated that they heard multiple shots fired around 2:00 pm CST, the start time of the Spanish-language services. [3] [4]
The shooter, Genesse Moreno, claimed to have a bomb in her backpack, but no bomb was subsequently found. [5] [6] She also sprayed "some type of substance on the ground". [7] She shot a 47-year-old man in the leg, wounding him. [8] [5] [9]
Moreno said "Stay calm, all I need is help", [10] then proceeded to fire more rounds.
Two off-duty officers, serving as security at the church, killed Moreno after she pointed an AR-15 at them. Moreno's seven-year-old son was shot in the exchange of gunfire. [6] The child was taken to the Texas Children's Hospital in critical condition. [5] Moreno was shot and killed four minutes after entering the church. [10]
Reports of a second shooter caused some alarm among Houston residents, leading police to evacuate businesses in the commercial district. Police confirmed that there was no second shooter. [11]
The wounded 47-year-old man was released from the hospital by February 12. [6] The seven-year-old had a portion of the frontal lobe of his brain surgically removed, [12] [13] and had his breathing tube removed after 13 days. [14] His grandmother Rabbi Walli Carranza urged people to "demand that no one’s second amendment rights overtake an innocent child’s inherent right to life". [14]
Camera footage from body cameras and surveillance cameras was released by the police. [10]
Police confirmed the following day that they identified the shooter as 36-year-old Genesse Ivonne Moreno (August 21, 1987 [15] – February 11, 2024). [16] Moreno was raised in Conroe, Texas, and had both a criminal record and documented mental health issues. [6] [17] Carranza, her ex-mother-in-law, said that she had schizophrenia that caused her to become violent, [18] and claimed that "What was needed for years was a collaborative mental health and law enforcement response". [10] She legally obtained her weapon in December 2023; Carranza criticized the lack of a red flag law. [18]
Carranza unsuccessfully petitioned for conservatorship of Moreno's son, the injured child, in 2022. [19]
As of February 19, 2024 [update], no motive is known. [6] Police confirmed that Moreno's AR-15–style rifle had a "Palestine" sticker on it and claimed that antisemitic writings had been discovered. [20] [21] According to the Anti-Defamation League, Moreno had made multiple comments propagating anti-semitic conspiracy theories, praising Osama bin Laden, and promoting terrorist organizations. [22]
Moreno previously used the alias Jeffery Escalante; although she at no point was identified as anything other than a cisgender female, her use of this alias caused far-right commentators, including Libs of TikTok and Fox News, [23] to spread misinformation claiming that the shooter was a transgender woman. [24] [25] [26] Fox News later edited its article to remove the claim. [23] Republican politicians, including Ted Cruz, [27] Donald Trump Jr., [27] Marjorie Taylor Greene, [23] and Josh Hawley [23] promoted the claim. This continued an ongoing trend of conservative commentators claiming that the LGBT community is to blame for increasing gun violence in America. [27] However, this claim contradicts statistics that trans people are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violence. [23] [24]
Lakewood Church asked people to "pray for Lakewood and our community". [8] Joel Osteen, its pastor, said: "Of course, we're devastated. We don't understand why these things happen. We're going to pray for the 5-year-old little boy, the lady who is deceased and the other gentleman. We're going to stay strong and continue to move forward." [5]